“It’s hard to see it any other way because of our record,” Dickey said Sunday, according to Sportsnet.ca. "I think the capability that this team has is still very, very good and so I hope we carry an expectation of that going forward now. We obviously haven’t put all the pieces together, and hopefully we’re going to be able to do that.”

Dickey's comments came after Sunday's 4-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays, a game in which he gave up three home runs in six innings. Toronto is 3-7 over its last ten games after getting swept by the Rays.

Overall, the Jays are 45-52 and 13 1/2 games out of first place in the rugged American League East.

It wasn't supposed to be like this. Toronto was tabbed as a World Series contender this spring after a winter of wheeling and dealing that brought in big names like Buehrle, Dickey, Jose Reyes, Josh Johnson and Melky Cabrera.

But while the offense has been decent, the pitching has been among the worst in baseball. Dickey has a 4.75 ERA, a full two runs a game worse than last season, when he won the National League Cy Young Award. Buehrle has been worse, posting a 4.83 ERA in 20 starts.

“The buck always starts with the guy in front of the camera,” said Dickey. “Right now, if I turn in a few more outings that are better outings we might be at .500. It starts with our pitching, me in particular, I’m trying to anchor the staff as best as I can but we’ve got a lot of great pitchers on the staff and we just need to pitch up to our expectation and hopefully that will be a stepping stone. We’re all just spokes in a big wheel and everybody plays a part. Sometimes it’s tough to identify, that’s one thing.”